Adjustable suspension device for ceiling panellings



July l0, 1962 o. A. JQRGENSEN 3,043,548

ADJUSTABLE SUSPENSION DEVICE FOR CEILING PANELLINGS Filed June 7, 1960 INV EN TOR O ye /Q/zdr-ea sJprgen Sen ATTORNEY United States Patent O 3,043,548 ADJUSTABLE SUSPENSION DEVICE FOR CEILING PANELLINGS Ove Andreas Jprgensen, S4 strupvej, Odense, Denmark Filed June 7, 1960, Ser. No. 34,536 Claims priority, application Great Britain .lune 15, 1959 1 Claim. (Cl. 24S- 327) This invention relates to an adjustable suspension device for ceiling panellings. Such panellings may have a purely ornamental purpose but may also have sounddeadening properties or may form a support for soundquenching material, such as bats of mineral wool.

The panelling proper may consist of elements of elongated or some other appropriate shape which are made from thin sheet material, such as nely perforated or nonperforated aluminum sheet. In many cases such panelling elements are nailed or otherwise secured directly to the ceiling surface but in other cases it is desired to suspend the panelling at some distance below the ceiling surface,

e.g., in order to provide a hidden space above the panelling in which the coils of a heating and/ or cooling system or the air supply conduits of a ventilation, system may be installed. In the latter case, the elements of the panelling may be releasably supported by a plurality of carrying rails which are suspended at some distance below the ceiling surface. It is usually of particular importance that the surface of the nished panelling is accurately plane and, accordingly, the carrying rails of the panelling have to be exactly in level with each other.

It is known to suspend the carrying rails by means of looped wires of steel or other metal material, the length of the loops of which may be varied in order to adjust the effective length of the wires. However, it is rather diicult to obtain the desired accuracy in this way because the eiective length of a wire may change unintentially when the knot of the wire loop is tightened.

According to the present invention, an adjustable suspension device for ceiling panellings comprises an upper strap portion intended to be secured to a ceiling, and

a lower strap portion intended to be secured to a carrying rail of the panelling, the lower and upper ends, respectively, of said strap portions in their operative position overlapping each `other and being clamped together by means of a toggle clamp, t-he lever of which is journalled in one of said strap portions. When using such suspension devices which are relatively cheap in manufacture, it is extremely easy to adjust the effective length of the device with a high degree of accuracy so that the time required for the manual work of mounting the panelling is reduced to a minimum.

In a preferred embodiment of the invention the strap portions are of band formation and have substantially the same width, one of the strap portions being provided with opposed up-turned flanges along its longitudinal edges to form lateral guides for the other strap portion, and said anges having apertures in which the toggle clam-p lever is journalled. Such devices may be manufactured at low costs by meansof automatic or semiautomatic machines and will he able to guarantee a very reliable suspension of carrying rails and ther panelling elements. v

The invention will now 'be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which- FIG. l shows a sectional elevation of a portion of a carrying rail and one of its suspension devices, portions of the panelling proper being indicated in dotted lines, and

FIG. 2 a transverse section taken substantially along the line II-I-I in FIG. 1.

In the embodiment illustrated on the drawings, the panelling proper comprises a plurality of parallel elongated elements `1, shown in dotted lines. Each of these elements is of channel formation and comprises a laterally extending flange 2. 3 designates a portion of a carrying rail extending transversely to the longitudinal direction of the panelling elements 1. Also the carrying rail 3 is of channel formation, and in the bottom portion 4 thereof a series of hooks 5 are stamped out for supporting the elements 1. Adjacent each hook 5 the bottom portion 4 of the carrying rail 3 further comprises a downwardly extending lug 6 which forms a stop for the free edge of the lateral flange 2 of the particular element 1 when this element is being mounted.

The carrying rail 3 is suspended from the ceiling, not shown, by means of a plurality of suspension devices, each of which comprises an upper strap portion 7 and a lower strap portion 8. By means of a screw or the like, not shown, the upper strap portion 7 may be secured to the ceiling, and by means lof another screw connection comprising a headed screw 9 and a nut '10, the extreme lower end 11 of the lower strap portion 8 may be secured to the bottom portion 4 of the carrying rail 3.

Both strap portions 7 and 8 are of band formation and have substantially the same width. In the embodiment shown the lower strap portion 8 is provided at its upper end with a pair of opposed side anges 12 which form lateral guides for the upper strap portion 7, and in which a pair of opposite apertures 13 are stamped out. In these apertures 13 a pair of opposite lateral ears 14 on the short arm 1S of a toggle clamp lever 15, 16 are received. The short arm 15:y has substantially the same width as the strap portions 7 and 8 Whereas a portion of the longer arm 16 has a greater width, see FIG. 2, so that this longer arm in the locking position of the clamp may rest against the edges of the flanges 12, 12 as illustrated in the drawing. In this position the strap portions 7 and 8 are clamped together by means of the toggle clamp 15, 16and by appropriate dimensioning of the elements of the suspension device it is possible to obtain a very rm engagement bet-Ween the strap portions 7, 8 so that the effective length of the device, and thus the spacing of the carrying rail 3 below the ceiling surface, will not change unintentionally. On the other hand, the engagement because of the resiliency of the elements of the suspensiondevice between the strap portions 7 and S may easily be relieved by merely swinging the toggle lever 15, 16 in anti-clockwise direction. After such release the effective length of the suspension device may be varied at Will.

It will be appreciated that the invention is not restricted to the embodiment illustrated in the drawing. By way of example, the toggle clamp lever may be carried by the upper strap portion 7, and the suspension device may be secured to the ceiling and to the carrying rail in many ways diierent from that illustrated in the drawing. Thus, when the carrying rails are of tubular formation, it may be advantageous to use upper strap portions of band material and lower strap portions of wire material that is bent around the carrying tube. In this case the toggle clamp may be provided at the lower end of the upper strap portion, and, the end of the shorter toggle clamp lever 15 may have a recess 17, FIG. 2, to receive the upper end portion of the wire.

I claim:

In a ceiling panelling comprising a plurality of parallel velongated panelling elements and a number of carrying rails extending in the transverse direction of said elements, means for releasably connecting said elements to a 4 said carrying rails, and adjustable suspension means com- References Cited in the le of this patent prising a plurality of upper strap members each having UNITED STATES PATENTS an upper end xed and extending downwardly from its of the upper straps, and a toggle clamp lever journalled in one of said strap members and operative to clamp said overlapping end portions together in any adjusted posi- FOREIGN PATENTS tion. 65,406 Germany Nov. 10, 1892 

